Kolskeggr Hámundarson

Kolskegg is Gunnarr's loyal brother and battle-companion — the steady, honourable man at the hero's side through all his fights. Where Gunnarr is the peerless warrior, Kolskegg is his faithful second, sharing his battles and his counsel without envy. Their parting is one of the saga's quiet heartbreaks: when both are outlawed and ordered abroad, the brothers ride for the ship together — but Gunnarr, looking back at his fair hillside, turns home to his doom, while Kolskegg keeps his word and sails. Kolskegg goes on to a far country, takes service in the Varangian Guard at Constantinople, is baptised, and never returns to Iceland or sees his brother again. He is the saga's image of the road not taken — the brother who kept the oath Gunnarr broke, and so lived, far away, while the hero who could not leave his beloved slope stayed and died.